Got Thrills? A Boxed Set (A McCray Collection) (50 page)

Something was definitely not right. Mia slunk back as far as she could into the tiny alcove and watched the men through their reflection in a rather gaudy Greco-Roman mirror. Mia could see bulges under their arms. The kind of bulge a concealed weapon might make. Mia shrank back, doing her best impersonation of being invisible.

As the three approached the star diamond case, Mia cast her eyes around looking for an escape route or at least a hiding spot better than this barely-recessed alcove. Just around the corner was a large temporary structure containing all sorts of information on the formation of star diamonds. This was one of the push-the-button-self-tour maze structures found in so many museums that felt so very out of place at the Louvre. Out of place, but oh-so-welcome to Mia in this particular moment.

The only challenge was entering the maze without being seen. There was twenty-five feet to the entrance, through an area that was very exposed and of course, brightly lit.

Hunkered down, waiting for any opportunity to practice her museum sprinting skills, Mia watched the icy blonde type in some kind of override code to the star diamond case. The thing opened with a whoosh of hydraulics. Then all three thieves leaned into the case.

This was her chance. Mia slid off her loafers and sprinted for the maze entrance. She slip-skidded across the slick marble floor, but entered the maze without a sound. Mia would have made her escape cleanly if her scanner hadn't suddenly gone berserk, vibrating away.

Mia froze, her heart in her throat, waiting for the inevitable reaction from the trio.

And they did not disappoint.

“Did you hear that?” the blonde hissed.

“Bloody hell,” the older man said in a clipped British accent. “That’s the sound I heard with that blasted woman near the Mona Lisa.”

“The Asian?” the Belgian growled. “She interrupted me while installing slav cam.”

“Damn it, didn’t you check the entire floor?” the blonde demanded. The Brit tried to explain, but the blonde overrode him. “Find her.”

Mia heard the two men move off, looking for the source of the noise. The sound must have bounced and echoed, making her location more difficult to ascertain. Mia picked up her jade scorpion and pressed her lips on the stinger tail. A lucky break, just when she needed it most.

She could still get lost in the maze. Once the blonde had secured all the star diamonds, Mia was sure the thieves would high tail it out of here. The scanner activated again, vibrating so violently it nearly fell out of her hands.

“The star diamonds,” the blonde hissed. Then she raised her voice. “The Asian has found a way to track star diamonds.”

Mia froze. That couldn’t be true, could it? Had she someone stumbled onto a way to find star diamonds? Remotely? The concept wasn’t unprecedented. The dessert Jell-O was well known for emitting waves very similar to brain waves. Did the star diamonds do something similar? Is that why her scanner could pick them up?

Which would have been great, except for the whole fact that an international team of thieves now knew about it. And the heavy steps of men running didn’t help any. There was no way these people were going to just leave now. Not when the scanner in Mia’s hand was worth a thousand of those trifling baubles in the case.

There was only one real option here, but the thought of it was terrifying. Mia had to take control of the situation. Now.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Mia charged the wall, hitting the structure as hard and as low as she could. As she had suspected, the temporary wall was only magnetically sealed to the floor. The wall crashed into the star diamond display case, shattering the glass. Mia had just a moment to see the look of shock and recognition on the face of the Swede before she bolted back into the maze.

But the flare of alarms and flashing lights announcing a break-in did not materialize. Bars should have come down over the doors. Virtual security guards should have popped up in every corner. The lack of any response gave her severe pause. Clearly, this trio had disabled any and all alerts set in the exhibit. There would be no help from the outside.

But the die was cast. She didn’t have time to think of another plan. The tour guide had seen where Mia was heading, so she was effectively trapping herself inside the structure. What was done was done, though.

Rather than bury herself in a back corner somewhere, which her attackers would almost certainly expect, Mia went high, climbing up on top of one of the displays. Her movements were smooth, silent. Her sensei would have been proud.

And she listened. Soon enough, she heard the voice of the woman moving toward her. Her tone held more than a few traces of pain and irritation, giving Mia a perverse sense of satisfaction.

Mia pulled back from the leading edge of the display where she perched, waiting for the first opponent to come along. She was used to facing them in the ring. With rules and a referee. Oh, and barehanded.

The first person to appear was the older Brit, carrying some sort of ceramic gun. Mia took a moment to enter a code into her scanner and hide it on top of the wall before turning her attention back to the dapper thief.

The man was wary, and by the way he moved, it was clear that he had not allowed himself to go to fat. She waited until the man had passed completely by her display, then leapt out, her foot aimed right at the back of the Brit’s neck.

Some errant breath of air or sixth sense must have alerted the man, as he spun halfway around, catching Mia’s kick square in the side of his jaw. Rattled, but not down, the man roared, charging her. Mia dodged to the side, catching the Brit on the back of the head with her two fists knotted together. The hit sent the man careening into a wall where he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Not quite as quick or as soundless as she could've hoped for, but Mia would take it. She darted out of the area, seeking another dark corner from which to attack next. As she rounded a corner, she found herself face to face with the Belgian, who took on a fighting stance, his mouth contorting into a feral grin. From the stance, Mia could see this would not be such a quick win for her. She glanced around, seeking some sort of additional help with a much taller, much heavier opponent. She saw none.

The man must have observed her failed search; his grin widened and he moved in with more confidence. Watching the man’s advance, Mia noted a hitch in his left foot and attacked just as it came around the second time.

Her punch fell on empty air as the man dropped to the floor and swept Mia’s legs out from under her. As Mia landed, her breath whooshing out of her, she realized she had fallen for a feint. There was no limp. The man followed up with a fist to Mia’s face, splitting her lip. Mia had been fooled, and now she was hurt… and down on the ground, vulnerable.

But so was he.

Mia was nothing if not quick. And limber. She flipped herself up to standing and was ready to catch the Belgian with a roundhouse kick to the side of the temple. Well, she thought she was ready. But apparently, so was he. He caught her leg, forcing Mia to flip herself over to escape the inevitable next move that would shatter her ulna.

She faced the man once more, respect for his speed and skill coloring her every movement. Her lip throbbed where it had been split. She wiped her hand against her mouth, seeing the streak of blood stark against her skin. The man’s smile became downright lecherous.

“The pain. You like? I give more.”

“Thanks, but not without dinner first.” The Belgian charged, but Mia was ready. She leapt upward, latching onto a hanging light fixture dangling from the ceiling. Her skin sizzled where it touched the hot metal of the lamp, but she kept her arms wrapped tightly around it.

The Belgian’s charge forward took him right into the cradle made by Mia’s legs. She encircled his neck with her thighs and squeezed, bearing down as hard as she could, cutting off his airflow. The assailant's face turned red, then purple, then black, as he clawed at her legs before he collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Second assailant down.

Mia dropped to the ground, feeling some of her skin peel off as she let go of the lamp. As she landed, she heard a soft pop and felt a lance of fire across her left obliques. She clamped a hand to her side and whirled around in time to see the blonde woman toss aside her weapon. Apparently, the forced air pistols they carried were one-shot wonders… and not terribly accurate. Mia’s hand came away dripping red, but she wasn’t dead, and the wound felt superficial. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a mother, though.

The woman circled to her right, toward Mia’s injury, and Mia felt her last hope fade. The woman’s movements, stance, and fluidity bespoke decades of martial arts training. At her best, Mia might be able to take her. But Mia was far from at her best right now. And the woman knew it.

There was no idle chit-chat. No knowing smile. These were two worthy opponents using every ounce of their concentration on taking down the other. Each knew the age-old saying that a white belt who focused would defeat the black belt who did not.

The Swede made a lightning strike with her fist toward Mia’s face, which Mia managed to block, only to find that the attack was not the primary one. The woman brought her right knee up and connected with Mia’s side, right where she had been struck by the bullet. The pain flamed up and out from her wound, hunching her over in agony. The woman then took a vicious sideways swipe across Mia’s face, knocking her to the side.

Mia fell against one of the walls, bracing herself to kick back with her foot at the blonde’s face as she advanced. The blow connected, snapping the woman’s head back. Mia followed up with a slicing thrust of her fist to the woman’s solar plexus. Impossibly, the blonde countered, knocking away Mia’s hand and slashing out once more at Mia’s left side. Pain blossomed anew, giving Mia’s sight a red haze that was difficult to focus through.

The blonde pressed her advantage, blow after ringing blow landing on Mia’s face and neck, alternated with savage thrusts to the bullet wound. Mia retreated back out of the maze toward the star diamond display, blocking every blow she could, but she was losing. Badly. This would not end well, unless she could hold out for a little while longer…

There. A beeping sounded from up above, where Mia had planted the scanner, set to go off in two minutes. The noise was enough distraction to cause the blonde to glance up.

A moment was all Mia needed. She thrust her stiff fingers straight forward, catching the Swede right in the larynx. The woman stumbled back, clutching at her throat, trying to pull air in where air was no longer welcome. Mia followed the blonde one step forward, two… then spun around in a full circle, her heel slamming into the Swede’s temple.

And then there was nothing in front of Mia but a smallish woman doing her best impersonation of a limp rag. Mia took a long moment to catch her breath, then leaned over to make sure the woman’s larynx wasn’t completely collapsed. She wanted the woman incapacitated, not dead.

After making sure the blonde would be okay, but not anytime soon, Mia checked the room, taking in the collateral damage. Other than the three human-shaped bundles on the ground, there was very little. A couple of holes in the drywall, a temporary wall knocked askew, a display case tipped over. Could be worse. Much worse.

Mia pressed her fist into her side, pushing against the pain that throbbed there. Time to go get the authorities. Mia began to shuffle toward the exit, not terribly anxious to continue with the next step.

Despite the pain, Mia shook the wall hard, causing her scanner to fall from its hiding place. Hurrying before the authorities got there, Mia swiped the scanner over the star diamonds. It vibrated against her blood slicked palm. It really could sense them. Rapidly she turned the device off. Commotion on the other side of the doors. The authorities. Regardless of the fact that Mia was guiltless here, she was almost certain she would no longer be welcome here. One more museum from which she was barred. Awesome.

That mattered little, anymore, as Mia hurried to find her purse and hide the scanner amongst the post cards and receipts. As the gallery doors opened, Mia felt a huge grin spread across her face in spite of the pain.

It was time for her to shoot for the stars.

Or, perhaps, the moon.

# # # #

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, places, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Rush

An
Off Our Meds Project
/published by arrangement with the author

FIRST EDITION

Copyright 2012 by Carolyn McCray

All rights reserved

Kindle Edition

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Supper

by

Cristyn West

And as a BONUS, here’s an exclusive look at Cristyn West’s latest short story!

Be warned, however, that this story has GRAPHIC violence. If you were disturbed by such movies as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, or Hostel, this story is NOT for you! #youhavebeenwarned

PROLOGUE

Delia tried to move the tip of her finger, but it, too, refused to budge. The effort it took to simply keep her diaphragm moving up and down, up and down, required all of her focus.

“I can’t see…” Megan moaned next to her.

Struggling, Delia raised her eyelids, squinting against the harsh, late-afternoon sun. Once she saw Megan’s leathery skin, stretched gaunt over her cheekbones, putrefied fat oozing from the cracks, Delia wished she hadn’t bothered.